Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery
- Country United Kingdom
- Total identified casualties 1359 Find these casualties
- Region Hampshire
- Identified casualties from First & Second World War
- GPS Coordinates Latitude: 50.78325, Longitude: -1.13732
Location information
Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery, also known as Clayhall Royal Navy Cemetery is located near the former Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, Gosport, Portsmouth. There are no signs to direct visitors to the CWGC plots.
Visiting information
PARKING
Parking for visitors is either inside the cemetery gates (during working hours) where there is limited space, or on street parking along any of the main roads leading to the cemetery.
ACCESS, LAYOUT & MAIN ENTRANCE
Access to the cemetery is via gates from Clayhall Road.
This route is firm and level. It is also possible to open the gates and drive through and around the cemetery to the different plots. The paths throughout the cemetery are gravel and are firm and level, with a few undulations where trees are present. Access to the memorial is via a gravel path from the entrance, and there is a rise onto stone paving that leads up to the memorial. The stone paving is firm and level. There is a bench next to the memorial and benches throughout the cemetery. There are no shelter buildings and there is no artificial lighting at the site.
ALTERNATIVE ACCESS
If visiting during working hours, it is possible to drive through and around the cemetery to different plots.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
There is a visitor information panel which provides information on the casualties.
Cemetery Opening Hours (Summer months): 0800 hrs to 1800 hrs Monday to Friday, 0900 hrs to 1800 hrs - Saturday, 0900 hrs to 1730 hrs – Sunday. The rest of the year opening hours are reduced. The main gate is locked after 1500 weekdays, and at weekends.
Contact the Cemetery Office 02392 765385 for further information.
History information
During both wars, Gosport was a significant sea port and Naval depot, with many government factories and installations based there, as well as the Haslar Naval Hospital. No 5 Squadron Royal Flying Corps were based at Gosport just before the outbreak of the First World War and during the Second World War the town acted as base to No 17 Group Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy Light Coastal Forces.
Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery, which was attached to the Naval Hospital of 2,000 beds, contains 772 First World War graves, 2 of which are unidentified. Most are scattered throughout the cemetery, but the 42 officers and men of HM Submarine "L.55" whose bodies were brought back from the Baltic in 1928 lie together in a collective grave and their names appear on a Screen Wall Memorial.
The Second World War graves number 611, 36 of them unidentified. A number of the graves are scattered throughout the cemetery, but the majority lie together in one or other or five groups, the largest of which contains more than 350 burials, the smallest 25.
The Commission also maintains 17 non-war MOD graves, plus 2 Belgian Army, 1 French Navy, 3 Dutch Navy, 3 Polish Navy and 1 Portuguese Army graves here.